Firefighter to lose job for marrying captain's daughter

Rock Hill firefighter to lose job for marrying captain's daughterYa gotta be kidding?!!
By JULIE HALENAR
Associated Press Writer
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - With his June 18 wedding date fast
approaching, a Rock Hill firefighter is challenging a city policy
that would boot him from his job for marrying the daughter of
another firefighter.
Matt Cooper, 25, a Rock Hill firefighter since 2003, plans to
marry 21-year-old salon manager Brooke Lowery, the daughter of
Herbie Lowery, the captain at another Rock Hill station.
Having a fireman as a father-in-law would violate a 22-year-old
city policy that prohibits employing two family members in the same
department. The city said it plans to enforce the rule.
"I love the fire department and I love her and I don't want to
lose either of them," Cooper said Wednesday to reporters as his
bride and her father looked on.
The city, claiming its rules are in line with state policy and
other policies nationwide, will give Cooper a month after his
wedding to find another job. Cooper said Wednesday he has not
decided if he will take legal action to stay on the job.
"The policies are put into place in what we feel best works for
the city of Rock Hill," Fire Chief Mike Blackmon said. "We just
can't change policies every time someone walks in there thinking
they disagree with it."
The policy, which Cooper signed when he was hired and was
reminded of throughout the courtship, was written to curb nepotism
and create a diverse and equal working environment, city officials
said. With only about 100 firefighters in the city, Cooper and
Lowery would work together on a regular basis, Blackmon said.
But Cooper believes his relationship with Herbie Lowery will
only make him a better firefighter in a profession that is built on
family.
While the city has offered to transfer him to another
department, Cooper says he wants to remain a fireman, a position he
has admired from an early age, watching his father, who also is a
fire department captain in Ohio. He hopes one day to have a child
who becomes a firefighter too.
"I'm dedicated to my job," Cooper said. "I'm following in my
father's footsteps because that's what I know."
Cooper has the backing of the International Association of Fire
Fighters and his pastor, Joseph James of India Hook Methodist
Church.
"They are going to let go of a good firefighter because he's
fallen in love with who they consider to be the wrong person,"
said James, who is marrying the couple. "Most couples are planning
receptions and what the wedding cake is going to be like, and
they're trying to plan what happens if this happens."
Brooke Lowery is ready to walk down the aisle and enjoy a
honeymoon in Mexico, but cannot keep from stressing out about what
is going to happen to Cooper's job.
"We're ready to go, we just need to get married," she said
calmly despite the stresses of her large wedding. More than 200
people are expected to attend, and the whole fire department also
is invited.
"No matter what he's going to be a firefighter," Lowery said.
The couple and others just hope the city will change its policy.
"It's in his blood, it's his calling," James said. "Now what
he's being asked to do is to choose between two of his greatest
loves of life - the calling of his career, of the thing that's in
his blood, that's in his family tradition and the love of his life.
"He's going to marry Brooke. Why does he need to be punished
for that?"

Yep, Nepotism can be a real pain in the backside when it comes to hiring people. Shortly after I resigned my job with the City Fire Department as a fulltime FF/EMT in March of this year, I got an email from the Fire Service Coordinator for Ascension Parish. He was forwarding a Job announcment which read:
------
East Iberville FD job openings
One full time and 4 part time positions available.
$8.00 an hour
Firefighter I
1st Responder or above
Haz-Mat Operations (will consider Awareness)
Contact Chief Floyd Sanchez for more information.
-------
Well, I knew that the fulltime slot he was hiring for was the one I left open when I resigned. I made a couple of phone calls and found out that someone had complained to the State Ethics Board about the nepotism in the paid department and the Chief was forced to lay off all of his family members he had on the payroll who had been working as Part time FFs.
Due to budget problems he hasn't filled all the positions but he hired one person from the volunteer pool (one who had attended FF1 classes in a neighboring district but had never taken the final exam required to get his FF1 certification) and another person from outside of the department. Both work part time for the City fire department now.
So, the lesson here is, if you become Chief of a FD and need to hire FFs to man your station - Don't hire family.

where I understand the city's policy, this doesn't seem like nepotism. HIRING a relative is one thing. Becoming a relative while already employed is another. He was okay when he was hired. Could people in this situation be grandfathered? Just wondering.

What the hell kind of backwoods hillbilly BS is this????

Do these people have any idea, how many Fire Departments out there have all kinds of "family connections" within the ranks? Look at FDNY for example- I know of one family, where the Grandfather is a Deputy Chief, the Father is a Battallion, one son is a Lieut, and two other sons are firefighters! One of the son's wives is a headquarters non-uniformed rank......How about Philly? I know of at least 2 families that have multiple members through the ranks, one of which being a Deputy............

And yet again I find myself agreeing with Bones.
If he knew the rules there is nothing to discuss.
You dont break the rule then try and get it changed.
Besides Marriage is the leading cause of DIVORCE.

The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe..Frank Zappa

The city, claiming its rules are in line with state policy and
other policies nationwide, will give Cooper a month after his
wedding to find another job. Cooper said Wednesday he has not
decided if he will take legal action to stay on the job.
"The policies are put into place in what we feel best works for
the city of Rock Hill," Fire Chief Mike Blackmon said. "We just
can't change policies every time someone walks in there thinking
they disagree with it."
The policy, which Cooper signed when he was hired and was
reminded of throughout the courtship, was written to curb nepotism
and create a diverse and equal working environment, city officials
said. With only about 100 firefighters in the city, Cooper and
Lowery would work together on a regular basis, Blackmon said.
But Cooper believes his relationship with Herbie Lowery will
only make him a better firefighter in a profession that is built on
family.

Ah...the diversity issue rears it's ugly little head.

I would like to see the list of the "nationwide list" of communities the city of Rock Hill is using to justify this bullscat rule.

Anybody want to venture a guess the real reason? I think that someone wanted their child to get on the job in a City Department and that person didn't "fit" with political administration in power at the time, so the rule was put in place to screw someone.

‎"The education of a firefighter and the continued education of a firefighter is what makes "real" firefighters. Continuous skill development is the core of progressive firefighting. We learn by doing and doing it again and again, both on the training ground and the fireground."
Lt. Ray McCormack, FDNY

I can see both sides of it....... It's a BS rule...... But he also knew about it when he got hired........ I'd push the wedding back and try to get it changed........ Or who says HR needs to know he got married???? I wouldn't want to be in his shoes...... And he's from our neck of the woods, too!

The comments made by me are my opinions only. They DO NOT reflect the opinions of my employer(s). If you have an issue with something I may say, take it up with me, either by posting in the forums, emailing me through my profile, or PMing me through my profile.
We are all adults so there is no need to act like a child........
IACOJ

Well everyone is saying "he knew about it when he was hired...... He signed the contract....." blah blah blah

I bet when he was hired AND when he signed the contract he didn't know his Captain's daughter, I bet he didn't PLAN on falling in love with her.......

How many of you "planned" who you'd fall in love with? How many of you are married/engaged to/ or otherwise involved with a person who is exactly who you envisioned yourself with (except for Bou he seems to have a perfect life hehehe)? How many of you are exactly where you thought you'd be at this point in your life? How many of you have never had life toss you a curve ball?

My point is life is never what we plan it, so should this guy lose his job because he fell in love with the Captain's daughter and she with him? I'm not sure of the concern that brought about this rule, but what about a shift swap? A station switch if there is more than one station? Surely there are solutions that don't involve this young man having to choose between his career and his wife........ I'd hate to be in either one of their shoes....... if he gives up his career, will he resent her...... if he gives up her, will he grow to hate his career and have regrets ? Nope, don't envy them their positions at all.

I sincerely hope that this issue can be resolved in a manner that is beneficial to all involved.

The comments made by me are my opinions only. They DO NOT reflect the opinions of my employer(s). If you have an issue with something I may say, take it up with me, either by posting in the forums, emailing me through my profile, or PMing me through my profile.
We are all adults so there is no need to act like a child........
IACOJ

It may or not be a good rule, but what is the differance between this poicy and that of residency?
It seems to me that if you sign off on the rules at your appointment, you live by the rules until the rules are changed.
I am both interested and anxious to see if some on this board defend this policy of anti-nepotism with as much vigor as they did when the residency issue was discussed awhile back.

What would be the policy if they were to co-habitate? If that circumstance would be acceptable, I'd say they're going to have a problem enforcing the policy. That's based on the apparent discrimination because of marital status, especially if South Carolina is one of 38 state where this kind of policy is forbidden by law. If for no other reason it could easily be seen as an invasion of common law privacy which is recognized in nearly every state to some degree or another.

Unfortunately, it could take years trying to get his job back unless he can get a court to place a restraining order to prevent his termination pending the review of the case. If nothing else, it would be interesting. I'm glad it's not me.

Originally posted by Steamer What would be the policy if they were to co-habitate? If that circumstance would be acceptable

It probably would not be an issue legally until they became married by common-law.
From a legal viewpoint he would not be related to his fiance's dad until married, a point which would render the nepotism issue moot.
I also am glad I'm not in his situation.

Originally posted by jasper45 It probably would not be an issue legally until they became married by common-law.
From a legal viewpoint he would not be related to his fiance's dad until married, a point which would render the nepotism issue moot.
I also am glad I'm not in his situation.

Agreed, but my point is that if they can't or won't treat people in the same living conditions as a married couple (sans marriage license), then the argument arises for discrimination based upon marital status. I've been looking but I seem to find legal references supporting that concept in every place but South Carolina.

There was a case involving similar circumstances in the midwest that the court found just that to be the case and ordered the persons returned to work and a monetary award for damages. I can't seem to be able to find that one either without the specific citation.

I wouldn't place much of a wager on something like this. There are way too many variables to allow the court to swing either way.

My dept would have to lay off a lot of guys if this were to happen here. Out of 102, we have several brother combinations, a husband and wife, in-laws, cousins, you name it we got it. I just figured it out, over half of the job has at least one relative on the job. In fact at my prior assignment, I was the only one who wasn't related to someone else on the job. A family tree? How about a wreath! This is a family oriented business, with the tradition being handed down from generation to generation. This city should look at their policy. It is very exclusive.

"I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we know the work which a fireman has to do believe that his is a noble calling."

Originally posted by PuffyNPFD My dept would have to lay off a lot of guys if this were to happen here. Out of 102, we have several brother combinations, a husband and wife, in-laws, cousins, you name it we got it. I just figured it out, over half of the job has at least one relative on the job. In fact at my prior assignment, I was the only one who wasn't related to someone else on the job. A family tree? How about a wreath! This is a family oriented business, with the tradition being handed down from generation to generation. This city should look at their policy. It is very exclusive.

Actually, Brother Puffy... it's rather discriminatory...

On "da job" here.. we have had 5 father/son combos, 2 father/daughter combos, brothers, cousins, uncles, in laws and out laws... and we are a 71 person FD. My FD is civil service, so they all took the firefighter entrance exam, CPAT, medical and psych exams, passed and scored well enough to get hired.

‎"The education of a firefighter and the continued education of a firefighter is what makes "real" firefighters. Continuous skill development is the core of progressive firefighting. We learn by doing and doing it again and again, both on the training ground and the fireground."
Lt. Ray McCormack, FDNY

Woods, how do you expect to win a lawsuit against a rule that you agreed to? If you didn't agree with the rule, why did you agree to it? It's not like this just popped up out of nowhere, he knew about it, he was warned about it, they offered him something else, he chose to ignore it. Now he's trying to fight it at the last minute instead of well ahead of time.

Re: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid,......................

Originally posted by hwoods A few folks have started out with "The Rules......." If you don't like a rule, Break it. Period. I'd get married, wait until the City forced the issue, then blow them out of the water with a lawsuit.

I guess I would love to see this happen, trouble is, it'll only happen in fantasy land. If this were'nt the case, we would have no more residency.
Time after time, in court after court it still stands. (residency)
It's not a violation of your civil rights, you don't have the absolute right to be a firefighter, or to work for that city. If you agree to the rules and, sign off on them, at your appointment your bound by them. If you don't like the rules at hand, you can always find a new line of work, or a differant department who, at the very least doesn't have that rule.
Trust me, we've argued almost every point to argue, and we've lost every time.
The only real potential weak point is if it was proven the city /department did not enforce a particular rule equally.

Update

Fellow firefighters ask Rock Hill to change nepotism rule

ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - About 20 firefighters showed up at a Rock
Hill City Council meeting to ask members to change a policy on
nepotism that could cost a firefighter his job.
But council did not respond to the request Monday, and City
Manager Carey Smith has said he has no plans to recommend a change
or grant an exception to Matt Cooper, who is scheduled to marry the
daughter of a fire captain this weekend.
The marriage violates a Rock Hill policy prohibiting two family
members from working in the same department.
The International Association of Firefighters has taken up
Cooper's cause. Dominick Barbera, president of the group's
Southeast regional office, spoke to council members.
"I look at firefighters as brothers and sisters. We don't want
to be treated differently. We just want to be treated fairly. I ask
you to bless this marriage and allow Matt to keep his job,"
Barbera said.
Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols thanked the group for coming, but
none of the council members responded.
Cooper, a Rock Hill firefighter since 2003, plans Saturday to
marry 21-year-old salon manager Brooke Lowery, the daughter of
Herbie Lowery, the captain at another Rock Hill station.
After that, city officials said Cooper will have 30 days to find
another job.
After the meeting, Cooper, who sat on the front row with his
fiancee, said he will think about becoming a firefighter at another
department.
"Maybe we'll end up somewhere else. It's all a toss-up,"
Cooper said.
One of the firefighters at the meeting to support Cooper said
there is an easy solution.
"Put 'em on different shifts. That's the simple solution to
this whole thing," said Sgt. Tim Garner, a 10-year veteran of the
Spartanburg Fire Department.
But Rock Hill officials said that couldn't work because the
city's 96-member department is so small that all firefighters
regularly interact with each other, regardless of which shift or
station they are assigned to.
The city has promised to help Cooper find another job either
with the city or at a different fire department.
---
Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldonline.com

July 11th

State ethics opinion on policy gives Rock Hill fireman new hope
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ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - The State Ethics Commission says a city
policy against nepotism that requires a Rock Hill firefighter to
give up his job is stricter than what is required by state law.
The commission said Monday that state nepotism laws do not
require employees to be fired for marrying relatives of other
employees, as long as the marriage didn't help them to get their
jobs or earn promotions.
Rock Hill's policy forbids relatives, including in-laws, from
working in the same department.
Cities commonly pass rules and policies that are stricter than
state laws, said Herb Hayden, the executive director of the State
Ethics Commission.
The opinion does not affect the case of firefighter Matt Cooper,
who married the daughter of a fire captain last month and expects
to work his final day on Sunday. Still, Cooper said the ruling
gives him hope.
"It kind of makes me feel good about the whole situation," he
said. "It just kind of clarifies things for me. Until that last
day I walk out of here, I'll still have hope."
City officials said Monday they stand by the policy, designed to
prevent favoritism. "The city has very sound business reasons for
continuing to administer its nepotism policy," City Manager Carey
Smith said in a written statement.
The International Association of Fire Fighters requested the
ethics commission review.
"The (ruling) shows that common sense and the value of family
still means something in South Carolina," said Harold
Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of
Fire Fighters. "We hope the city will use this opportunity to
review their enforcement of the anti-nepotism policy and allow
firefighter Cooper to keep the job he loves."
---
Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldonline.com